Apparatus for wrapping articles with wrapping material

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for wrapping articles with wrapping material, wherein means for folding the free ends of the wrapping materials under the article, which has been previously wrapped up in said material along the three sides thereof, comprises an intermittently driven endless roller conveyor and a reciprocable pusher member adapted to insert one of the free ends of the length of the wrapping material into the space between a pair of the rollers of the endless roller conveyor, this free end being subsequently pulled and folded under the article by this endless roller conveyor.

1451 Aug. 15, 1972 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1971 Buob,....................

ABSTRACT 2 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures Primary Examiner-Theron E. Condon Assistant Examiner-Neil Abrams Attorney-Waters, Roditi, Schwartz & Nissen An apparatus for wrapping articles with wrapping material, wherein means for folding the free ends of the wrapping materials under the article, which has been previously wrapped up in said material along the three sides thereof, comprises an intermittently driven endless roller conveyor and a reciprocable pusher member adapted to insert one of the free ends of the length of the wrapping material into the space between a pair of the rollers of the endless roller conveyor, this free end being subsequently pulled and folded under the article by this endless roller conveyor.

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[54] APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING ARTICLES WITH WRAPPING MATERIAL [72] Inventors: Yakov Ei'unovich Duckhinsky, Kiev; Grigory Avramovich Radutsky, Moscow; Rafail Efimovich Kheifets; Grigory losiiovich Zax, both of Kiev; Nikolai Ivanovich Anikanov; Leonid Pavlovich Grachev, both of Moscow, all of U.S.S.R.

[73] Assignee: Iuiatelstvo lzvestia,", Moscow U.S.S.R.

March 4, 1971 [2i] Appl.No.: 120,957

[51] Int. Cl. 11/20 [58] Field ofSearch.........................53/2l0, 2 28 United States Patent Duckhinsky et al.

1221 Filed:

W /AVA 1 I.

APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING ARTICLES WITH WRAPPING MATERIAL The present invention relates to the techniques of packaging or wrapping up of articles or stacks of articles, and, more particularly, it relates to apparatus for wrapping articles with wrapping material.

The present invention can be used to the utmost ad vantage as part of processes of packaging printed matter, such as newspapers and the like, including the operation of forming an open-ended package; as well as of similar processes of packaging other kinds of printed matter, e.g., books, copy-books, etc.; however, the invention can also be used for wrapping up of all kinds of objects of various shapes, when the wrapping material is to be folded under the bottom side of the article being wrapped up.

At present, there are known apparatus for wrapping articles with wrapping material, such apparatus comprising a pair of spaced opposing walls with a vertically reciprocable table being positioned intermediate of said walls and being adapted to push an article supported thereby through the space between said walls,

together with the wrapping material held against the article by a movable clamp disposed above the walls, the apparatus further comprising means for folding the free ends of the length of the wrapping material under the article already prewrapped with this material along the top side and two opposite sides thereof, as a result of its having been pushed through the space between the walls with the material overlying the article and held The present invention has for its aim the creation of an apparatus for wrapping articles with wrapping material, which should provide for reliable packaging of such articles without the necessity of wrapping up of articles prior to the packaging operation, and which should facilitate the step of folding of the free ends of the length of the wrapping material under the article.

This aim is attainedin an apparatus for wrapping an article with wrapping material, comprising a pair of spaced opposing side walls and a vertically reciprocable support table adapted to push said article together with a length of said wrapping material, overlying said article and held against the top side thereof by a movable clamp disposed above said walls, through the space between said walls, and means for folding the free ends of said length of said wrapping material under said article already wrapped with said wrapping material along the top side and a pair of opposite sides thereof, as a result of said article and said length of said wrapping material overlying the same having been pushed through the space between said walls, in which apparatus, in accordance with the present invention, said means for folding said free ends of said length of said wrapping material under said article comprises an intermittently driven endless roller conveyor adapted to serve as said vertically reciprocable support table; a

thereagainst. This means for folding the free ends of the length of the wrapping material in the known apparatus comprises a pusher plate mounted for reciprocation at the level of the uppermost position of the vertically reciprocable support table and adapted to be extended into the gap between the article and the top surface of the table, for pushing one of the two free ends of the wrapping material under the bottom side of the article, and a stationary abutment member in the form of a plate mounted behind the article and adapted to effect folding of the other free end of the length of the folding pusher plate adapted to insert one of the free ends of said length of said wrapping material into the space between an adjacent pair of the rollers of said roller conveyor, and a movable abutment member normally disposed above one of said walls and positionable adjacent to the side of said article, remote from said pusher member in the direction of the progress of said roller conveyor, as the latter pulls and folds said free end of said length of said wrapping material under said article.

With the apparatus constructed in the abovedescribed manner, in accordance with the present invention, an article or a stack of articles can be material under the bottom side of the article, as the latter is being delivered from the reciprocable table onto this abutment plate. (See, for example, the German Federal Republic Patent No 1,114,433, Class 81a; 7/01 However, this operation of folding of the free end of the length of the wrapping material under the article by means of a pusher plate proves to be inadequately reliable in practice, particularly, when this operation is employed for wrapping articles piled into a stack and not bound to each other, because in this case it is essential for the pusher plate to be precisely introduced between the bottommost article in the stack and the corresponding plane of the vertically reciprocable support table. Besides, with this mode of folding operation, it is necessary for the articles in the stack to be previously wrapped up because the articles in the stack might be displaced relative to one another, when the free end of the wrapping material is folded under the stack and when the stack is delivered onto the abutment plate, which necessity becomes particularly pronounced when newpaperlike printed matter is packaged by an apparatus of the abovedescribed known type.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome these disadvantages.

packaged without the necessity of wrapping up of this article or these articles prior to the wrapping operation.

It is expedient in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, for said endless conveyor to comprise a pair of spaced vertically disposed closed endless conveyor chains, each said chain carrying a plurality of journals, said respective journals of said pair of chains being arranged in opposing pairs, said pairs of said journals supporting therebetween said rollers of said conveyor, freely rotatable in said jour nals.

This structure of the endless roller conveyor prevents positively any creasing of the package being formed and of the article or the stack of articles being wrapped, under the action of the tension of the wrapping material, as the latter is being folded under said article or the stack of articles.

The present invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of an embodiment thereof, with reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective general view of an apparatus for wrapping newspapers, piled into a stack, by forming an open-ended package;

FIG. 2 illustrates an open-ended package formed by the apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

Referring now in particular to the appended drawings, an apparatus for wrapping stacks of newspapers comprises a pair of opposite side walls 1 (FIG. 1) and 2 extending vertically and spaced from each other, with an endless roller conveyor 3 being located in the lower portion of the space between these walls, and a vertically reciprocable clamp. 4 being located in the upper portion thereof.

The conveyor 3 comprises two endless joumal-carrying chains 5 and 6 spaced from each other and running each in a vertical plane, the journals 7 of the chain 5 being connected with the corresponding journals 8 of the other chain 6 by the respective number of rollers 9 freely rotatable in these pairs of journals. The conveyor 3 is intended to serve as a selectively vertically reciprocable table for supporting thereon a stack 10 of articles to be packaged the table 3 being mounted on the bifurcated upper end portion of a reciprocable rod 1 1 made integral with a toothed rack 12 meshing with a pinion 13 rotatable by a reversible electric motor 14.

The conveyor 3 is further intended to serve as means for folding the free ends of the length of wrapping material 15 under the stack 10, for which purpose there is provided a reciprocable pusher plate 16 adapted to insert one of the free ends of the wrapping material 15 into the space between a pair of the rollers 9. The pusher plate 16 is reciprocated by means of a toothed rack 17 secured thereto and meshing with a pinion 18 rotatable by a reversible electric motor 19.

The conveyor 3 is driven intermittently by an electric motor 20. The direction of the progress of the work run of the conveyor is indicated in FIG. 1 with an arrow line A.

In order to retain the stack 10 against displacement at moments when the ends of the wrapping material 15 are folded thereunder, there is provided a vertically reciprocable abutment plate 21 normally disposed above the wall 2 and positionable against the side of the stack 10, remote from the pusher plate 16 in the direction of the progress of the conveyor 3, when the latter folds the free end of the length of the wrapping material 15, inserted between the pair of the rollers 9, under the stack 10.

The abutment plate 21 is positionable against the stack 10 by means a toothed rack secured to the abutment plate secured to the plate 21 meshing with a pinion 23 rotatable by a reversable electric motor 24.

The web of the wrapping material 15 is unwound from a supply reel 25 and severed into desired lengths by a pair of severing blades 26 of which one is reciprocable and the other one is stationary.

The two ends of the length of the wrapping material 15, folded under the stack 10, can be pasted together with the help of a mechanism 27 provided in the herein disclosed apparatus for applying a coat of glue onto the internal surface of the severed end of the length of the wrapping material 15. The mechanism includes a train of rollers 28 of which one is immersed in a glue bath 29 and another one is mounted on an oscillable springbiased pivoted lever 30 operatively associated with a solenoid 31.

The herein disclosed apparatus further includes a second roller conveyor 32 onto which an open-ended package 33 (FIG. 2) is delivered, when the free ends of the wrapping material 15 are folded and pasted together thereunder.

A stack, e.g., of folded newpapers, is packaged by the herein disclosed apparatus in the following manner.

Prior to commencement of an operating cycle, the conveyor table 3 and the clamp 4 are lowered into their bottommost position and a stack 10 to be wrapped up is placed onto the conveyor 3.

The web of the wrapping material 15 is advanced above the stack 10, to overlie the latter, in any known way.

Then the electric motor 14 is energized to raise the conveyor 3 through the action of the pinion 13 and the rack 12 into the space between the wall 1 and 2, with the material 15 overlying the stack 10, whereby the material 15 is tightened against the top side of the stack 10 and the two opposite sides thereof, with the clamp 4 holding the material 15 against the top side of the stack 10 (this intermediate position is illustrated in FIG. 1 with thin dotted lines).

Upon the stack 10 having been raised into the topmost position, the electric motors 19 and 24 are energized to drive the pusher plate 16 into its extended position between an adjacent pair of the rollers 9 of the conveyor 3, the pusher plate 16 thereby inserting the adjacent free end of the wrapping material 15 between this pair of rollers, and to position the abutment plate 21 against the corresponding side of the stack 10, respectively.

Then the electric motor 19 is reversed, and the pusher plate 16 is retracted from the area of the conveyor 3.

Thereafter the electric motor 20 is energized to drive the endless chains 5 and 6 together with the rollers 9 carried thereby, the pair of the rollers 9, between which the free end of the wrapping material 15 has been inserted, holding this free end and pulling it under the stack 10.

Simultaneously with the energization of the motor 20, the severing blades 26 are actuated to sever the length of the wrapping material 15, and the solenoid 31 is energized, too.

In this way a desired length of the web of the wrapping material 15 unwound from the supply reel 25, is severed, and the internal side of the severed end thereof receives a coat of glue from the rollers 28.

Then the motor 24 is energized in a reverse direction, and the abutment plate 21 is raised clear of the stack 10, whereby the running conveyor 3 rolls the stack 10 onto the second roller conveyor 32, thus folding the severed end of the material 15 thereunder, and the two ends of the length of the wrapping material 15 are pasted together.

The open-ended package 33 is carried away by the roller conveyor 32 toward stations performing subsequent treatment of the package (not shown), e.g., closing of the ends of the package.

Upon the stack 10 having been delivered onto the roller conveyor 32, all the previously mentioned mechanisms of the herein disclosed apparatus are actuated into their respective initial positions, and the apparatus is ready to perform the successive operating cycle.

We claim:

1. An apparatus for wrapping an article with wrapping material, comprising: a pair of opposing side walls, an intermittently driven endless roller conveyor positioned intermediate said walls and adapted to suptioned above said walls' and adapted to hold said wrapping material against said top side of said article; a movable pusher member adapted to be extended into the space between an adjacent pair of the rollers of said endless roller conveyor, in order to insert one of the free ends of said wrapping material into said space; a movable abutment member normally positioned above one of said walls and being selectively positionable against the vertical side of said article, remote from said pusher member in the direction of the advance of said endless roller conveyor, when the latter folds said free end of said material, inserted into said space between said pair of said rollers, under said article, whereby said article becomes wrapped in said wrapping material.

2. An apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said endless roller conveyor comprises a pair of spaced vertically disposed closed conveyor chains, each said chain carrying a pluralitx of journals, said respective journals of said pair of chains being arranged in opposing pairs, said pairs of said journals supporting therebetween said rollers of said conveyor, freely rotatable in said journals.

I UNITED STATES PATENT @FFIEE ermane Patent 'No.. 3,,683 ,5'86 Dated August 15 1972 Invent0r(s) Yakov Efimovich Duchinskv, et. al.

It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

On the. cover sheet [72] '"Yakov Efimovichbuckhinsky" should read Yakov Efimovich Duchinsky Signed and sealed this 19th day of December 1972. V

: (SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD I 'I.FLE'I'CHER,JR 7 ROBERT GOT'ISCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents FORM P0405) (10-69) USCOMM-DC 60376-P69 a US GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1969 0-368-384, 

1. An apparatus for wrapping an article with wrapping material, comprising: a pair of opposing side walls, an intermittently driven endless roller conveyor positioned intermediate said walls and adapted to support thereon said article to be wrapped up; means for advancing said wrapping material above said article supported by said roller conveyor; a support member having said roller conveyor mounted thereon, said support member being reciprocable in a vertical plane for pushing said article on said roller conveyor together with said wrapping material overlying said article between said side walls, whereby said material is wrapped about said article along the top side and two opposite vertical sides thereof; a movable clamp positioned above said walls and adapted to hold said wrapping material against said top side of said article; a movable pusher member adapted to be extended into the space between an adjacent pair of the rollers of said endless roller conveyor, in order to insert one of the free ends of said wrapping material into said space; a movable abutment member normally positioned above one of said walls and being selectively positionable against the vertical side of said article, remote from said pusher member in the direction of the advance of said endless roller conveyor, when the latter folds said free end of said material, inserted into said space between said pair of said rollers, under said article, whereby said article becomes wrapped in said wrapping material.
 2. An apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said endless roller conveyor comprises a pair of spaced vertically disposed closed conveyor chains, each said chain carrying a pluralitx of journals, said respective journals of said pair of chains being arranged in opposing pairs, said pairs of said Journals supporting therebetween said rollers of said conveyor, freely rotatable in said journals. 